Committee takes first look at 20-year proposal guiding development.
Intro: Until a future day when commuters can fly around like the Jetsons, Bethesda’s development potential is capped by road and rail limitations, a Montgomery County Council analyst joked on Monday.
By Bethany Rodgers

The meeting called by the East Bethesda Citizens Association and Coalition of Bethesda Area Residents reflected a sense that elected leaders don’t fully grasp community concerns, particularly about the Bethesda Downtown Plan under consideration by the County Council.

The chatter about breaking away is loud enough that two community groups, the East Bethesda Citizens Association and the Coalition of Bethesda Area Residents, are co-sponsoring a meeting on the topic Thursday evening in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School cafeteria.

2016

A community group, the Coalition of Bethesda Area Residents, has examined the county’s data and concluded that the new density allocated under the plan could sustain 28 new buildings of 20 stories or more. That would place Bethesda’s skyline second only to Baltimore in the Washington region, surpassing Silver Spring, Tysons Corner and Rosslyn.

A newly formed group of residents, many from the neighborhoods surrounding downtown Bethesda, hopes to make its mark on the area’s ongoing master plan by limiting the height and density of new buildings adjacent to single-family homes.

The 60-year-old GM squeezed aboard a packed Orange Line train in Vienna, accepting an invitation from Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) to experience first-hand the challenges commuters deal with on a daily basis. And the timing was perfect. By Martin Di Caro.

The problems plaguing the second-busiest subway system in America are well-documented: an economic downturn and federal budget sequestration led to fewer rides; the reduction of a pre-tax transit benefit, provided by more than 5,000 employers, from $255 to $130 per month also contributed to the decline; and for the first time last year the transit authority admitted that consistently unreliable service — some could describe it as terrible — has alienated commuters. By Martin Di Caro.

Zoning battles aren’t unusual when developers propose high-rise buildings amid single-family homes, but some Montgomery County residents are fighting the development plans of an unusual opponent: their local fire department. By Katherine Shaver.

Things have gotten testy between planners and MCPS officials who disagree about how to best protect trees at the site of a planned middle school in Kensington. The middle school, which MCPS says it badly needs to ease overcrowding in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase cluster, has been at the center of controversy and litigation since at least 2010. By Aaron Kraut.

The event Saturday was billed as a conversation about how growth affects all facets of county infrastructure -- schools, roads, transit and parks included. But the event's focus was school overcrowding and many in attendance were PTA members. By Aaron Kraut.

2014

Downtown Bethesda soon could become the first “green” community in Montgomery County, with large swaths of energy-efficient buildings, more trees, and landscaping that would better control and clean stormwater runoff. By Katherine Shaver.

Montgomery County Planning Director Gwen Wright went on WAMU's "The Kojo Nnamdi Show" Thursday and reiterated the agency's hope for more affordable housing and better public spaces in the future downtown Bethesda. By Aaron Kraut.

For planning purposes, the section of Chevy Chase sandwiched between Norwood Local Park and Bradley Boulevard has been labeled "South Bethesda." Some who live there are wondering why, wary that the area's inclusion in the Bethesda Downtown Plan will mean new zoning, development and the loss of low-rise condo and apartment buildings that anchor the predominantly residential neighborhood. By Aaron Kraut.

Planning Department Director Gwen Wright says her agency's upcoming rewrite of the Bethesda Central Business District Sector Plan, the document that provides zoning guidelines and development strategies for downtown Bethesda, won't start from scratch. By Aaron Kraut

2010

Six months after a building moratorium took effect in Bethesda, the Montgomery County Planning Board is poised to end it Thursday, opening the way for more development in one of the county's most densely packed areas. By Miranda S. Spivak.

The moratorium, required by county law when school crowding reaches a tipping point, had sparked complaints that it harmed the county's image, impeded efforts to attract businesses and jobs and was illogical because the county is promoting smart growth near public transit in Bethesda but then preventing growth there. By Miranda S. Spivack.